a few basic questions

[Aubergine]

how do you folks chop chocolate for baking? i was just tackling a TJ's PoundPlus bar for the Chocolate Cherry Muffins with my chef's knife, and it was a struggle. i loathe getting out the food processor for a simple task.

also, my clover honey has gone half-crystallized. any rescue for this?

finally, how often do you clean your coffeemaker? (vinegar brew, e.g.)

[SandyM]

I use my chef's knife to chop chocolate with no issues - other than sometimes it flies off the cutting board ;) Perhaps your knife needs to be sharpened?

You can put your honey in the microwave in 20-second intervals (depending on the power) and it'll come back to life.

[cher48603]

This is from Cooks Illustrated. I haven't tried it.

1) Hold a large knife at a forty-five degree angle to one of the corners of the block of chocolate and bear down evenly. Repeat at each of the corners.

2) After you have cut about one inch from each of the four corners, you will have a block with eight distinct corners. Continue until the entire block of chocolate has been chopped.

[AmberJane]

I use a serrated bread knife and it works really well!

[Canice]

Are you using the heel of your knife? You want to cut as far back on the blade as possible.

For the coffee maker I use a commercial cleaner from the hardware store - works like a charm!

[Grace]

For the chocolate, the knife works fine, but there is also this gadget that works well too:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005NUVX.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg


For your honey, the microwave would likely work fine, but you can also put it in a pan of water in the oven on low and it will slowly melt back to liquid. But I don't ever bother. I like it crystallized and there's nothing wrong with it.

[oskie]

Yeah, I know what you mean about the TJ's bars. I think that because they're so thick it's more difficult than chopping a normal sized bar, even using freshly sharpened sturdy knives. I've seen a chocolate chopper thingy somewhere - looks almost like a fork and you can break it up that way, kinda chunking it up. Don't have one myself, but I've been meaning to get one and try it out. Of course, I usually remember mid-recipe, but that's another problem. :o

ETA: That's it! Grace has proven that a picture is worth 1000 words...

Honey can be rewarmed to get rid of the crystals, either in the microwave as stated or in a pan of warm water.

My coffemaker has a light that goes on when it needs a cleaning, but it's one of the ones that has a water filter, which cuts down on the amount of stuff that can build up, so I end up doing the vinegar thing rarely.

[swquilts]

Ditto on the bread knife vs chocolate thing....and the coffeemaker. I think it depends on your water, hard vs soft, minerals, etc. I have well water so I don't have to clean it often.

[stacy7272]

Another vote for the serrated bread knife!!

Something else - chop up and down instead of doing a sawing motion. Forgive me if this is obvious but I was baking with a friend and I had her chop chocolate and I noticed her sawing at it!!

[tulip255]

In case anyone is interested, Chris Kimball (editor of Cooks Illustrated) will be on the Sunday morning weekend edition of the today show discussing chocolate. I would think he will give some hints about the best way to chop it.